


The Privilege of Almost

by CaptainLeBubbles



Category: RWBY
Genre: Gen, Post-Finale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-15
Updated: 2016-02-15
Packaged: 2018-05-20 16:31:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6016603
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainLeBubbles/pseuds/CaptainLeBubbles
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Qrow almost lost his girls. James doesn't get that privilege.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Privilege of Almost

**Author's Note:**

> Everyone is focusing on Qrow and his feelings on Ruby and Yang, but they keep having him stress at James, who _actually_ just lost one of his girls. So I thought maybe Jimmy should remind him of that.

“I almost lost them!”

“Yes.”

“They almost died!”

“Yes.”

James is standing there, immobile, watching him while he rages. He hasn’t offered Qrow any more than one-and-two word answers since he started. Qrow wishes he would. He wants James to yell at him, to fight him, to give him a reason to lash out. He wants to let out all the hurt he feels over failing to protect his girls. But James just carries on standing there, almost at attention.

He’s not surprised- how could General James Ironwood, cold and heartless as he is, ever give him a satisfying reaction?

“What am I supposed to do?” he demands.

“I don’t know.”

“No, of course you don’t,” Qrow sneers. “You stand there- while my girls are in _there_ , one in pieces and the other-”

James’ eyes flash at that, and Qrow remembers belatedly that once it had been James who was in pieces. He should take his words back, and apologize, but it’s the first reaction he’s gotten and so he keeps pushing, hoping his resolve will crack. Maybe James will punch him, give him a reason to fight.

“I was supposed to protect them and I couldn’t! And they almost died!”

“Yes.” James’ eyes are steel now, his jaw tight. “You _almost_  lost them. They _almost_  died. You _almost_  had to take their remains home, and you  _almost_ had to apologize to their father for your failure to keep them safe. You _almost_  broke your word.” He looks down at his hand, metal clad in soft cloth. Clenches and unclenches his fist. “What a beautiful word, _almost_.”

The word comes like a slap in the face, and then Qrow realizes that what he’s seeing in James’ eyes is not anger, but grief, and he remembers: remembers the girl, lying on the ring in pieces, skin in tatters while her limbs spark. He’d seen her before, hadn’t he? A few steps behind James, following him happily. A student of his, he’d said. His star pupil- Penny-

A robot. A robot infused with aura- there’s no way James hadn’t had a hand in her creation. No way he hadn’t been close by, from the moment they began building her. Qrow was there for the births of both of his nieces, had held them in his arms while they were still gross and squawling and covered in goo. He wonders if James had done that with Penny, if he’d held her when she did whatever it was that marked a robot as having been ‘born’.

“Oh my god…” Qrow murmurs, taking a step forward. “The girl- you- oh my god.”

“The artificial aura was based on my own research,” James says quietly, and, “I was the one who gave her the bow.” A smile, filled with pain, tugs at his lips, but ultimately fails. He hangs his head, eyes squeezed shut. “I thought she might like it- it didn’t even match and it clashed horribly with her hair, but…”

Qrow takes another step forward and rests a hand on James’ arm. “I’m sorry,” he whispers. “I had no idea… isn’t there some way to- to fix her? She was a robot… those can be repaired… right?”

“Her body?” James shrugs. “That we could repair easily. But she won’t be _Penny_  anymore. All of the things that made her… her… will be gone. We’ll have to start all over from the beginning. If we do at all. I’m- not sure if I could.”

“…I’m so sorry.” He steps closer, wraps his arms around James’ middle. It’s sudden and James stiffens immediately in surprise, but Qrow just buries his face in James’ chest until he returns the motion, wrapping his arms around Qrow’s shoulders and holding tight.

Qrow wants to offer reassurances, to tell him it will be all right, but what can he say? His girls almost died, yes, but neither of them did. He can’t imagine what James must be feeling- never wants to have to. All he can do is murmur apologies into James’ chest and hope he’s enough to be a comfort in some way.

**Author's Note:**

> Penny's dead haahaha I'm f i n e


End file.
